Soul Diver
by ContraBardus
Summary: A strange infliction is putting people into comas. Was in Misc, decided to move it because it becomes a Ranma fic in the second part.
1. Default Chapter

Something decidedly different for you to enjoy. As always, it  
isn't quite what it seems at first.  
  
This one will be real short folks. At most, four parts. It is cool  
as hell though. ^_^  
  
A new fic from Carrot Glace  
  
Soul Diver  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Captain?" The wiry thin science officer turned from his station  
and looked at his superior officer. His eyebrow was arched as he  
stared at the man expectantly.  
  
"Fire photon torpedoes," said the skinny black man as he pushed  
his glasses up his face. He was sitting calmly in his chair that  
overlooked the bridge of his starship. Everyone worked at their  
stations feverently, desperately performing their duties as the view  
screen showed the starship in front of them pass by, shaking the  
vessel as it fired repeatedly at them with it's phasers.  
  
They watched as the balls of light energy slammed into the  
opposing ship's shields, having no effect at all.  
  
"Shields at ninety percent, Captain," said one of the technical  
crew from his station nearby.  
  
"About full, keep them in our sights," commanded the captain  
firmly. The crew obeyed without question as the man stared at the  
screen with a harsh scowl on his face.  
  
"Captain, the Romulans are cloaking," stated the science officer  
emotionlessly.  
  
"Fire, three photon torpedo shots at two thousand yards in front  
of their vanishing point, just after the ship cloaks."  
  
"Done," said the weapons officer as his hands worked skillfully  
across the controls.  
  
The captain watched with cold indifference as his orders were  
carried out. The shots streaked across space, seeming to impact on  
nothing. Within moments a heavily damaged warship appeared in front of  
them. The captain turned towards the science officer and smirked.  
"Damage report on the enemy ship?"  
  
"Their engines are inoperable, and their weapons systems are down.  
They are at our mercy, Captain," said the man as he glanced at the  
screens in front of him.  
  
"Hail them, and accept their surrender," said the wiry black man  
as he brushed off his shoulder casually and pushed his glasses up his  
nose again.  
  
"Captain! I've got an intruder alert!" said the security officer  
as he whirled around at his station.  
  
"What? The Romulans?" said the black man in shock as he turned to  
stare at the man in shock.  
  
"No transports were made from the Romulan ship, Captain," said the  
science officer casually.  
  
"Sir?" said one of the female officers as she stood up. She had  
dark skin and long red hair. Her figure was almost inhumanly  
beautiful, but then again, it was fairly obvious that she wasn't.  
  
"Don't worry Alura, I always manage to get us out don't I?" said  
the black man calmly as he strolled across the bridge. "Alert  
security, I want them apprehended. Yesterday people," said the man  
confidently as he walked over to the lift and checked his phaser  
coolly.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Two figures walked down the hallway of the starship, glancing  
around in confusion as they went. One of them was a man of a little  
under thirty years in age; he had short brown hair with bangs that  
almost covered his eyes. He was wearing a black leather outfit that  
fit against his body like a second skin. A strange looking blaster  
hung at his side as well, and a thick, black leather jacket hung off  
his shoulders with a silver shield was hanging over his heart on his  
chest. He was fit, but not muscular, and looked rather scraggly with  
his unshaven chin.  
  
The other stranger was dressed much the same, but she was a young  
black woman in her early twenties. Her hair was pulled up in a tight  
bun, and her build was athletic. Her blaster was slightly smaller, and  
much sleeker looking, it almost looked like an injector of some kind.  
  
Both of them had black helmets hanging from their hips on heavily  
weighed down utility belts, with various equipment hanging off of  
them.  
  
"Where are we, Jackson?" said the woman into a large screen that  
was strapped onto her right wrist. The screen itself was glowing with  
a light green color as the halls suddenly darkened and were lit by  
flashing red lights.  
  
"Looks like the living quarters, come on," said the man as he  
started to move forward.  
  
"What kind of starship is it? Gimme a class. We didn't have much  
to go on, and I can give you schematics," said a voice from the  
woman's arm mounted computer.  
  
"You know that won't do us much good," said the man as he pulled  
the blaster out and held it at the ready.  
  
"I've got a hunch, you should see this place," said the voice in a  
slightly amused tone.  
  
"Come on, we've got to find him," said the woman sharply as she  
brushed past the man with a slightly annoyed frown.  
  
"Come on! I've got point for a reason, Lita! Lita come back here!"  
said the man irritably as he chased after her with an almost lazy jog.  
  
The wall beside him suddenly burst into flames as a beam of red  
energy lashed across the hallway. He spun around, maneuvering himself  
behind a wall as a few more appeared from around the corner.  
  
His partner quickly dove onto the ground beside him after racing  
around the corner. "Shit!" she muttered irritably.  
  
"I warned you," said the man snidely.  
  
"Shut up, Carrot!" she snapped in retort.  
  
"Come on, they'll only be using stun," said the man with a chuckle  
as he peered from behind the corner and saw three men in federation  
uniforms aiming their weapons down the hall. "I love cannon fodder.  
You know none of these idiots can get us."  
  
"Thinking like that has gotten others killed," said the woman as  
she pressed herself against the wall and glared at him angrily.  
  
"We don't have time to waste here," said Carrot as he frowned and  
glanced at her.  
  
"What are you planning?" snapped the woman irritably.  
  
"This," said Carrot as he adjusted a knob on his blaster and  
pointed it upward just down the hall from where they were standing.  
  
"No! You crazy asshole!" snapped the woman. It was too late; he  
fired the weapon and smirked as a large hole was blasted into the  
ceiling that went up three floors.  
  
"Where are we going?" she snapped as she followed him as he walked  
into the debris and looked up at his handiwork. Several wires hung  
from the gaping hole, sparking occasionally as the lights flickered on  
and off.  
  
"Up," he replied simply.  
  
+++++++++  
  
Several moments later, the security guards finally made it to the  
hole. They moved cautiously and glanced up at the damage in horror.  
One of the men pressed the insignia on his chest and stared up at a  
few sparking wires for a moment. "Captain, we have a problem."  
  
"What is it?" said the Captain's voice in reply.  
  
"These people are carrying some serious hardware. They breached  
three decks in the blast, and I'm guessing they're moving towards  
engineering."  
  
"Right, set phasers to maximum, I'll be down in a moment. They  
must be after the RX Drive."  
  
"Pirates," grumbled the security officer angrily as he stared at  
the hole for a moment.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"Where are we?" said Lita as she glanced around in confusion. The  
men inside the room were laid out across the floor and evidence of a  
rather short battle was present in the form of holes blasted into much  
of the equipment.  
  
"Looks like engineering," said Carrot calmly as he nodded towards the  
long tube-like structure that housed the ship's energy source. "This  
looks different." He walked over and noticed a black machine of some  
type; it looked completely out of place. It was almost gothic in  
appearance, with sharp edges and protruding horns from the top. All  
the display screens and control panels glowed red.  
  
"Get away from that," said a firm sounding voice from the doorway.  
The pair turned and frowned at the man standing boldly in the center  
of the room. He had a phaser pointed at them almost casually. "You  
know, the penalty for piracy is execution."  
  
"Reginald Lewis?" said Carrot calmly as he nodded towards the man.  
  
The man froze for a split second and raised his phaser up a little  
more. "That's Captain Lewis."  
  
"We aren't here for this...thing," said Lita calmly as she nodded  
towards the strange machine. "We've come for you."  
  
"Who are you? Assassins for the Klingon Empire?" said the man with  
a small chuckle.  
  
"Looks like we've got an unaware," said Carrot as he narrowed his  
eyes at the man. Lita nodded silently in reply.  
  
Lewis stood tall, smirking at them as several officers rushed up  
behind him. All of them were members of the bridge crew, and looked  
distinctly different from the rest of the crew they had seen thus far.  
The most obvious was the stunning redhead that stepped up beside him.  
  
"You'll have to go through us," said the exotic looking woman  
angrily. "Isn't that right love."  
  
"Out of the way, I can handle this," said Lewis firmly.  
  
"Sir?" said the woman as she backed away. A pained look of longing  
in her eyes.  
  
"Disgusting," commented Lita with a frown. She raised her blaster  
up and fired a single shot. "We aren't part of your fantasy Lewis."  
  
"What?" said the man as the redhead moved to intercept the blast.  
The shot passed through her harmlessly and she smiled at the pair.  
  
"Ha! You've failed, no energy weapon can harm an Ashtulian!" she  
cried triumphantly.  
  
"Target marked, extraction beginning!" said the voice from Lita's  
computer.  
  
"Gotya," said Carrot as he smirked at Lewis coldly.  
  
"What?" said the man in horror as he staggered back, putting his  
hand over the spot where the blast had struck him.  
  
"Ca-" the redhead froze in place, her sentence unfinished.  
  
"The marker can't be effected by other parts of your fantasy  
Lewis, it's time to go home," said Lita coldly.  
  
"What's happening? What did you do to me?" said the man as he fell  
forward and onto his knees.  
  
"We came to bring you home, none of this is real," said Carrot as  
he closed his eyes and turned away from the man.  
  
Suddenly, the entire room went white. There was a violent  
sensation, as they seemed to spin around and tumble through  
nothingness.  
  
Carrot was screaming, he jumped upright and opened his eyes. A  
cold sweat covered his body as he jerked forward violently and was  
forced back by several pairs of strong hands. Various electronic  
monitoring devices were being pulled off of him as he was slowly  
helped to his feet.  
  
"Damn. I always hate that part," said Lita as she slowly rose from  
her own position. They were laying across two leather seats, almost  
like dental chairs. Various men in lab coats walked around them,  
moving equipment aside as they were helped back to their feet. Both of  
them appeared to be disoriented, and staggered around for a moment.  
  
"I always feel sick after that," said Carrot grimly as he wiped a  
bit of drool off of his chin. He bent forward and coughed slightly,  
but quickly regained himself. Both of them were dressed as they had  
been inside the starship. The only difference was the absence of their  
equipment.  
  
"We got a hot one!" screamed one of the technicians. It was a man  
in his early thirties with a long ponytail of brown hair. He was  
dressed in dark blue slacks and a white button up shirt. The collar  
was undone, and a black tie hung loosely around his neck. He strolled  
up to them and pat them both on the back, grinning dumbly. "Great  
job!" He smirked at them and leaned over their shoulders. "Drinks on  
me tonight."  
  
"Lewis, Reginald. Age seventeen, he should be on his feet in a few  
days or so," said the man as he pointed them towards a small  
television. Several men appeared to be inside the room of a teenage  
boy who looked amazingly similar to the captain of the starship they  
had just been on.  
  
"Great," muttered Carrot as he waved the scene off. The boy's room  
was completely filled with various Star Trek models and posters.  
Several black suited men were helping him up from in front of a rather  
cluttered looking computer.  
  
Carrot watched in silence as an overweight middle aged black woman  
rushed past the men and took the boy into her arms roughly. Tears were  
streaming down her face as she clutched him almost desperately. The  
poor boy looked even more disoriented than he had when he woke up.  
  
"How long was this one under for?" said Lita as she glanced over  
Carrot's shoulder at the scene. She had taken off the top portion of  
her uniform and was now dressed in a sweaty white T-shirt.  
  
"About twenty hours," said Jackson calmly as he smiled warmly at  
the scene. "Not long at all, he should be back to normal within a day  
or two. The psyche evaluations should take a bit longer though."  
  
"Yeah," said Carrot with a small nod. He frowned slightly and  
turned away.  
  
++++++++  
  
It started about ten years ago. Possibly the greatest scientific  
discovery of the century, or so they had thought.  
  
It was during the first ever mining operation on the moon. Digging  
beneath the surface of the planet, they discovered a new element. A  
slightly radioactive ore that had the potential to revolutionize the  
entire world. A new form of energy production that was clean, and  
mostly harmless.  
  
Well, that is what we thought at the time. The mining operation  
dug deep into the surface, hoping to find more of this substance.  
Finally, they found a vein after digging about a two miles into the  
surface. A most unfortunate event.  
  
There was a huge explosion, half the moon exploded in an instant.  
All two thousand employees of SciTech industries were killed in the  
blast. The planet went into turmoil, seas raged out of control as the  
tides were thrown off balance, things became a general hell on earth.  
Storms unlike any before them tore through the atmosphere for almost  
two years.  
  
Eventually, things calmed. The blast left the Earth's largest  
satellite a shattered shell of what it had once been. It remained in  
orbit, with the innards of the orbiting rock exposed for the entire  
planet to see. A sick green glow now lit the night sky. The internal  
make up of the satellite much different than had been speculated.  
  
It wasn't the worst part. After things had settled, and humanity  
regained itself. People began slipping into strange comas. No one knew  
why, but it quickly became apparent. Authors were falling in droves,  
everything from amateurs to big names. They would slip into an  
unexplainable coma, and then die about a month later.  
  
No one could figure out the reason for this strange illness. It  
became apparent that it only happened to those who used computers. It  
was strangely selective, in every case; an unfinished story was  
burning into the screen when they were found. It was only authors;  
desperation gripped terrified parents who found their children at  
their computers, and the families of older people as well.  
  
Finally, an American Scientist discovered a way to bring them  
back. Analytical Retrieving System. Affectionately known as 'Soul  
Diving' to those who perform it.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Carrot sat at in a smoky bar, a glass of bourbon in his hand that  
he sipped at lazily as he watched the row of bottles opposite him. He  
hadn't thought about those things in some time.  
  
"Hey partner," Lita pulled up a stool next to him and smiled. She  
had changed out of her uniform and was wearing a pair of brown pants  
and a white shirt. She put her hand on his shoulder and placed her  
beer on the counter. "Still brooding?"  
  
"Naw, just thinking about the past," said Carrot with a small  
smirk appearing on his face. "It all seemed so real. I wonder why I  
let it go sometimes."  
  
"I wish I could say I understand," said Lita with a small shrug.  
"You've been the best partner I've ever had you know. Even if you are  
a bit crazy."  
  
"I can't let them die Lita. As easy as it might be, I was almost  
one of those statistics you know," said Carrot as he downed the  
remainder of his drink.  
  
"Yeah, Jackson told me about that," said the woman as she looked  
away from him uncomfortably.  
  
"Did he?" said Carrot with a slightly amused smirk.  
  
"Yeah. It's true then, you really were the first?"  
  
"Yup," said the man calmly.  
  
"What's it like?" said Lita as she leaned against the counter.  
  
"I've seen all kinds. I think it's a little different for  
everyone. Some of them don't know, some of them do. Some of them do it  
willingly in order to have their ideal world, even if they know  
what'll happen to them in the end. Others..." he trailed off and  
frowned.  
  
"What? I know it's bad sometimes," said the woman as she smirked  
at him.  
  
"Others create a hell for themselves, those are the worst. I've  
only seen two like that though. I've heard stories though," said  
Carrot calmly. He closed his eyes and gripped his glass a little  
tighter.  
  
"I've never encountered one of those," admitted Lita with a small  
nod. "I've only been here two years, you've got more dives than the  
rest of us combined it seems."  
  
"Seems that way sometimes," said the man with a small sigh. He  
leaned back slightly and rubbed at his temples a little. "I remember  
the time I had to go get Crighton out of one of his books. That was an  
interesting experience," said Carrot with a small chuckle.  
  
"Really? I can imagine. I'm afraid I don't read much anymore,"  
said the woman uncomfortably.  
  
"This job can do that too you. Most writers use typewriters these  
days," said Carrot with a small chuckle. "Now it's mostly those who do  
it to themselves, as a way to escape reality."  
  
Lita nodded silently at this and took a drink. "So, what where  
you?" she asked, pretending not to be interested.  
  
"I was mostly unaware, I knew something was wrong though. The doc  
came in and got me, and I didn't resist. I miss him sometimes," said  
Carrot with a small chuckle. "He was a good friend."  
  
"I never met the man myself, he was quite the geezer though," said  
Lita with a small smile. "I wish I could have met him."  
  
"He taught us all an important lesson," said Carrot as he stood up  
from the bar.  
  
"What's that?" asked his partner with her eyebrow arched slightly.  
  
"How dangerous what we do is," said Carrot as he walked into the  
crowd and left the bar.  
  
"Hey! Where's he going?" said Jackson as he strolled up to the  
bar.  
  
"Home," said Lita with a shrug.  
  
"Man, he always was a bit of a stick in the mud," said the man  
with a small chuckle.  
  
"He's just a serious type," said Lita with a light smile.  
  
"Don't go falling for him now," said Jackson with a light smirk.  
  
"I doubt if he'd care if I did. He seems so cold," said Lita as  
she hugged herself slightly and shivered. "He only seems to be alive  
when he's diving. He's so different."  
  
Jackson fell silent and looked at her. "He's...been through a lot  
Lita. It's best to leave it at that."  
  
The woman glanced at him questioningly and smiled. "Come on, I'm  
tired of being so depressing. Let's dance." She pulled him into the  
crowd.  
  
"Hey!" protested Jackson as they vanished into the mass of writing  
bodies.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Carrot. What brings you here at this time of night?" said the  
aged man as he poured himself a glass of brandy. His guest had  
politely refused. He appeared to be in his late sixties, and was  
wearing a dark red robe. Carrot was sitting in front of a large fire  
in one of two chairs that sat across from one another.  
  
"Memories," said the man calmly. The flames danced in his eyes and  
flashed off the badge on his jacket. "Sorry to bug you."  
  
"Oh? Don't worry, this is what I do my boy. Tell me, what kind of  
memories?" said the old man with a good-natured chuckle.  
  
"I went in today, this one...he was like me. I could see it in  
those last moments. He knew something was wrong, but he couldn't quite  
figure out what."  
  
"You are afraid for him?" said the old man as he sat down across  
from the rough looking man.  
  
"You have no idea how tempted I was to go back to her," said  
Carrot as he hung his head. "It hurt to let it go."  
  
"I see, this one bears watching," said the old man with a small  
nod.  
  
"Doc," muttered Carrot.  
  
"Well, it is part of my job my boy," said the old man. "I'll admit  
I practically begged to become a part of this. Soon our technology  
will grow, and we won't need to perform dives any longer. That is a  
ways away unfortunately. It seems we are fated to risk lives in order  
to save them."  
  
"Right," said Carrot as he nodded his head. "To be honest, I'm  
going to miss it."  
  
"You and me both my boy," said the old man as he chuckled again.  
  
Carrot raised his eyebrow at the man for a moment.  
  
"Don't look so surprised. You have a unique opportunity my boy. If  
I where a few years younger, I would be with you inside the minds of  
those people. You have seen the inner workings of a person's mind like  
few others. I envy your position, from a scientific point of view."  
  
Carrot snorted a short chuckle at this. "Of course."  
  
"I'm glad to see that you understand," said the old man happily.  
  
"The thing is, when bad memories start, they all come too me. I  
probably won't sleep well tonight," said Carrot coolly. "I remember  
them, those we lost. Especially the ones I saw go, from the inside."  
  
"Yes," said the old man somberly. "I recall a few of the earlier  
missions that did not go well."  
  
"Yeah, not a pretty way to die, on either side," said Carrot  
numbly.  
  
"Tragic indeed. I wish you well tonight my boy, and I hope  
speaking of these demons will help curb these demons you carry with  
you."  
  
"I can only hope," said the man as he stood up. "Thanks Doc."  
  
"Anytime my boy," said the old man as he shut off a small tape  
recorder that rested on the table beside him. "You're stronger than  
you realize my boy," he muttered to himself as the man left him alone.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
"What's happening to him!?" screamed one of the technicians.  
  
An Asian man with long black hair lay out across the chair,  
various monitoring equipment was placed on his body and the machines  
around him were going wild.  
  
"Shit! Kim! Snap out of it!" cried Carrot as he pushed the man's  
shoulder's down onto the chair.  
  
"Shit! The subjects going wild! His readings...!" cried Jackson as  
he typed feverently at the controls of his own workstation.  
  
"Kim! Come on, snap out of it!" growled Carrot angrily. "Come on  
buddy! Fight back!"  
  
"Get him the hell out of there!" screamed a young blonde woman in  
a lab coat who rushed up to Carrot's side and gently moved him back.  
"Pull him back!"  
  
"I can't! There's too much going on!" cried one of the techs.  
  
Kim jumped upright, his eyes flying open as he did so. He sucked  
in a quick gasp of air, foam bubbling out of his mouth as he shook  
violently. Blood began to drip onto the floor from underneath his  
uniform.  
  
"What the hell!?" screamed the blonde as she shoved him back down  
forcefully and ripped open his clothes, exposing his chest. Three long  
bloody scars ran across his chest. Finally, all the equipment went  
dead, and the man lay still.  
  
"No," muttered Carrot in shocked horror. "Kim, wake up buddy."  
  
"We've lost him!" screamed Jackson as he jumped up and kicked his  
chair over in frustration. "The subject is gone too."  
  
Carrot walked over to Jackson's station as his coworkers rushed  
over to the fallen agent. He stared into the screen and said nothing.  
Staring back at him was an overweight teenager. His eyes were open,  
and a disgustingly satisfied smile was frozen on the kid's face. He  
couldn't speak or move as he watched the boy's body for a long moment.  
The boy's mother rushed up and took him into her arms, screaming  
painfully.  
  
He couldn't take any more, Carrot reached up and flicked the power  
off on the screen. It went black, but he could still see the kid  
staring at him, grinning anyway.  
  
++++++++++  
  
"NOOOOO!" He sat upright, staring at the wall opposite him. His  
breath was ragged and sweat covered his body.  
  
"Shhh," said a comforting voice from beside him. He felt a  
familiar pair of arms clutch him suddenly. "It's all right."  
  
"Wha?" muttered Carrot in confusion. He clutched his head, shaking  
it from side to side for a moment. "Damn." He was in bed, the greenish  
light of the moon shined through the blinds, giving the room a surreal  
glow.  
  
"Honey. It's all right," said the woman beside him. She pulled the  
sheets up over her naked body.  
  
"I...Mia..." he slumped down moving his feet over the side of the  
bed.  
  
"Who was it this time?" said the woman gently. She clutched at his  
back protectively, her arms wrapped around his chest. Her long black  
hair flowed over his shoulder as she kissed him gently on the neck.  
  
"Kim," said Carrot shakily. "I haven't had that dream in..."  
  
"Days," said Mia as she clutched him tighter. "I'm getting worried  
about us. This isn't good for you, you've got to stop," she said  
quietly.  
  
"I...I can't," said the man shakily.  
  
"What is it you're looking for? Why do you keep doing this to  
yourself?" said the woman as she loosened her grip slightly. Her voice  
shaking slightly as she said this.  
  
Carrot grit his teeth, he could feel the tears against his  
shoulder as she cried. "I don't know, but I have to do this." He  
pulled her into his grip and sat there holding her for a moment.  
Finally, he lay back down with her, and drifted off to sleep once  
more.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
To be concluded...  
  
Cool. This rules. I know it's short, and there's no anime in it  
yet. The next part will be a bit longer, and will cover a lot of stuff  
that this one didn't, as well as bring the Anime factor into it.  
  
I'm betting you can't wait to see where I go with this one.  



	2. Soul Diver[Part 2]

Soul Diver  
  
Part 2  
  
Dreams and Reality  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Carrot sat back in his car, the yellow lights of the tunnel  
flashing across his face as he drove along. His face was tired  
looking, and a cigarette burned in his hand as he idly moved the  
steering wheel.  
  
"Yo," said a voice as a screen on the dash flickered to life. The  
screen itself was rather dirty looking. It was poorly maintained, and  
the image flickered slightly.  
  
"What's up Jackson?"  
  
"Lita is worried about you, just checking up. You didn't come in  
yesterday," said the man calmly.  
  
"You know we can take the day off after a jump. Is Richards going  
to go busting my balls about this?" Carrot chuckled at the thought.  
  
"Naw, the old slave driver knows the rules. I think he sleeps with  
a copy of em under his pillow or something," said the man as he gave a  
short laugh.  
  
"Right, what's the big deal then?" said Carrot as he arched his  
eyebrow.  
  
"Lita says you were acting like more of an ass than usual," said  
Jackson with a small shrug. "You know how she is."  
  
"Bah, she's still green," snorted Carrot as the green light of the  
moon suddenly shone down on him as he exited the tunnel. "Don't worry,  
I'll be in tomorrow."  
  
"Right, I'll tell her, maybe she'll calm down," said Jackson with  
a slight sigh.  
  
"Yeah, right," snorted Carrot in amusement. "You'd almost think  
I'd married her."  
  
"See ya around buddy," said Jackson with a small, playful salute.  
  
"Yeah," muttered Carrot as he pressed a small button beside the  
screen, shutting down the connection.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"It's nice to sit like this," said Mia as she looked across at her  
husband. She was an Asian woman in her early thirties, around the same  
age as her husband. She had long black hair that was pulled up in a  
tight bun, and dark eyes. "We don't get out much."  
  
"I'm sorry," said Carrot as he hung his head. They were sitting in  
a corner booth of a rather expensive looking restaurant. She was in a  
business suit, and he was dressed much the same.  
  
"Don't apologize for what you do Carrot. I know it's important to  
you," she said to him quietly. She averted her eyes for a moment as  
she spoke, but relaxed into a wistful smile.  
  
"I know you don't understand, I wish I could help, but..." He  
frowned, a familiar thing to her in recent times.  
  
"I'm sorry Carrot, but..." she looked at him, her eyes pleading.  
  
He put up his hand, silencing her. "Please, I need to say this."  
He forced himself to look at her. "You think I don't see what you're  
going through? You think I don't notice?"  
  
"No, I don't think you do," she said quietly. "Sometimes, I know  
you don't."  
  
"I lost something in that damn dream. A part of my soul, a piece  
of my mind, something inside me died," he said with his head hung low.  
"It was you that brought me back. I knew someone was waiting for me."  
  
"But you didn't know who," said the woman with a slight smile.  
  
"I didn't even know who I was," said Carrot as he hung his head  
lower. "I can only say I'm sorry. I..."  
  
"Cheated on me, but I can't really say that can I?" said Mia  
calmly.  
  
Carrot merely nodded, unable to reply to that statement.  
  
"You are my husband, it tore me apart when you said her name  
instead of mine when we made love. Can you imagine what that must feel  
like?"  
  
"No," said the man as he turned away from her shamefully.  
  
"I forgive you for that, I'm not sure why, but it doesn't seem  
right to blame you," said the woman calmly.  
  
Carrot grabbed her hands and stared into her eyes. "Mia, I came  
back for you. If it wasn't for you, I might have killed the doc back  
then, and simply died. I knew something was wrong, I didn't know what  
it was, but I knew you were missing."  
  
"And yet you still hold on to part of her," said the woman calmly.  
She looked him dead in the eyes as she said this.  
  
"I wish I could make it just go away, I really do," he said with a  
heavy sigh as he looked away from her.  
  
"Do you?" she asked, almost pleading with him.  
  
"Yes," he said firmly, staring back at her again. He squeezed her  
hand gently as he spoke.  
  
"What are you looking for?" she said as she looked into his eyes  
for a moment. She seemed to be searching for something. "That piece  
you lost? A part of your soul? You won't find it again, I wish you'd  
realize that."  
  
"I realized that a long time ago, I'm looking for something more,"  
he said firmly. "I'm looking for an answer, a reason."  
  
"To what?" said Mia in confusion.  
  
Carrot merely smiled and sat back in his seat, with her hand still  
in his grasp.  
  
Mia returned the gesture, with her own uncertain smile. He seemed  
to loose all of his age in an instant as he smiled at her. Seeming to  
become the man he was ten years before. She blushed at his amused  
chuckle at her reaction and looked up to see a waiter waiting  
patiently for them to order.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"We got a dreamer."  
  
Carrot sat up and looked at the phone receiver in his hand for a  
moment. "What?" He glanced at the sleeping form of his wife for a  
moment; she was wrapped up in the sheets comfortably.  
  
"You heard me, he's been out about two days," said Jackson in a  
serious tone.  
  
"No hurry then," said Carrot lazily as he lay back into the  
pillow.  
  
"I need you here, this isn't one for someone green," said Jackson  
calmly on the other end of the line.  
  
"Shit," grumbled Carrot irritably. "Hang on, gimme a minute and  
I'll be down at the office in an hour."  
  
"Make that forty five," said a gruff sounding voice that cut into  
the conversation from another line.  
  
"Yes sir," grumbled Carrot irritably.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"You're leaving?" Mia sat up groggily from the bed, the sheets  
hanging from her body loosely.  
  
"Yeah, I just got a call," said Carrot as he sat down beside her.  
He was already dressed in his uniform. "I didn't want to wake you."  
  
She smacked him lightly on the cheek. "I told you about that. I  
want to know when you're leaving."  
  
"Well, I'm leaving." He leaned in and kissed her for a moment as  
he pulled on his jacket and grabbed the keys off of the small  
nightstand beside their bed. "Don't wait up."  
  
"Like I ever would," she said with a small snort of laughter as  
she lay back down on the mattress again.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
"Well?" said Carrot as he sat in a small briefing room with his  
feet put up on the top of the chair in front of him. Lita was sitting  
next to him, with her arms crossed and a sleepy looking frown. "Tell  
us why you needed me here for this? Don't we employ other men? You  
know, the guys who actually work this shift?"  
  
"Don't get smart with me," snapped Richards. He was an older man,  
partially bald with a few white strands of hair crossing over the bald  
surface of the top of his head. He was also fairly large, and an ex  
marine. He glared at the pair in front of him.  
  
"Ah, the perils of working in the private sector," commented  
Jackson as he noticed the enraged older man glaring down at the two  
agents in irritation. "Hello."  
  
"What have we got? This had better be good, Jackson," said Lita  
irritably.  
  
"You're only here because you're his partner, blame him, not me,"  
said the man in retort as he sipped at a cup of coffee and placed a  
folder on the podium that was centered on the rows of chairs.  
  
Carrot found himself the recipient of a rather nasty glare. He  
shrugged his shoulders and turned back towards Jackson. "Profile on  
the victim?"  
  
"His Name is Roy Daniels. A name I think you'll recognize," said  
Jackson with a small frown. "Seventeen years old, psychologically  
sound for the most part. Standard spoiled brat really."  
  
"As in Robert Daniels?" said Lita in shock.  
  
"The same," said Jackson with a tense looking nod.  
  
"Shit," replied the woman quietly.  
  
"His parents fund us, and this happened? Sounds like a willing  
sleeper to me," said Carrot with a snort.  
  
"The good Dr. West agrees with you Carrot. Possibly a cry for  
attention, or a suicide attempt. Most likely the former," said Jackson  
as he flipped through the pages for a moment.  
  
"Mom and Dad might have to pull our funding to cover the therapy  
bills," said Lita with a small smirk.  
  
"Great, a funder," muttered Carrot irritably. "Anything else on  
him?"  
  
"It isn't what we've got that got this kicked at your feet, but  
rather what we don't have," said Jackson with a small nod.  
  
"So? What don't we have?" said Carrot calmly.  
  
"All we've got is a partial sentence, a location," said Jackson  
with a small nod.  
  
"Shit," said Carrot with a rough snort.  
  
"That's bad?" said Lita in confusion.  
  
"We won't know who the dreamer is," said Carrot as he threw his  
hands in the air in frustration. "We've got to find him."  
  
"That's right," said Richards grumpily as he shoved Jackson aside  
gently. "Lita is going to go in, and you're staying here as support  
for her."  
  
"What?" said Carrot in shock.  
  
"Carrot, we don't have a team available with more dive time than  
you two," said Jackson with a slightly irritated frown. He glanced at  
Richards and stepped in front of the podium.  
  
"So wait for someone," snapped Carrot. "He's only been down two  
days. Nobody Soul Dives alone."  
  
"He could get himself killed before then, and his parents are  
influential. Sorry, we're being pressured to move ahead. It isn't our  
call," said Jackson with a shrug.  
  
"Maybe I should have a talk with these 'concerned parents'?"  
growled Carrot. "We're doing an interview first, I'm not letting her  
go in there without one."  
  
"Out of the question," said Richards with a frown.  
  
"The hell it is! Call the doc down here, he'll do it if you want,  
but I'm not sending my partner in there without some background first.  
Especially not without me!"  
  
"What's the location we've got? Let's at least cover what we do  
have," said Lita as she stood up between the arguing men.  
  
"All we got from the PC was a setup location. 'Nerima, Tendo  
Dojo'," Jackson hung his head and turned away. "Sorry Carrot, these  
people are heavily funding us. If they pull their support we're sunk.  
They asked for you by name."  
  
"What the fuck am I doing here, Richards?" snarled Carrot angrily.  
"You know better than this."  
  
"I'm sorry son, they went over my head," said the man with a small  
shrug.  
  
"Call the doc, get him down here now. We're going to have a long  
discussion about this. In your office, right now, sir," snapped Carrot  
as he stood up and walked out of the room.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Richards walked into his office and sat down behind his desk. It  
was little more than a pile of paper.  
  
"How do they know who I am?" said Carrot calmly. He had been  
sitting in the chair on the other side of the desk silently up until  
that point. "How much do these people know?"  
  
"Our operations are not classified, only our methods," said the  
old man with a heavy sigh. "Carrot."  
  
"Shut up. What about -never- did you not understand?" said Carrot  
coldly.  
  
"You aren't going it, and your knowledge might be an asset on this  
operation. You'll be given and audio link," said Richards calmly.  
  
"No. She's not going in there alone," snapped Carrot harshly. "We  
learned that the hard way."  
  
"It was..."  
  
"It was more than an isolated incident. Survivability has more  
than tripled since we went to teams, Richards," said Carrot calmly.  
  
"You're just thinking back to the times when we were still young,  
our technology is better, we..."  
  
"Don't tell me about technology. I'm one of the originals, the  
only one left," snapped Carrot as he slammed his hands on the table  
and pushed himself up into the old man's face.  
  
"The infamous 'Dirty Dozen'? Carrot, our teams are young for the  
most part, and we haven't had a death related to an extraction in two  
years. You think I like this?"  
  
"I'll shove it down those bastards throats if I have too! The  
reason we're living so much longer is because of the mistakes my  
friends made. I will not allow this to proceed."  
  
"You think I don't know that? The higher ups are growing  
comfortable; it's not good for a profession like ours. This is a  
combat unit, no matter how nicely those fat assholes dress it up with  
pretty words and publicity." Richards steepled his fingers and rubbed  
at his temples.  
  
"That's the beauty of this isn't it? We don't have to go, they  
can't make us," said Carrot with a wicked looking grin. "I'm not going  
to let someone die just to shake those idiots out of their perceived  
comfort."  
  
"Including that boy?" said Richards calmly.  
  
Carrot growled at him. "That boy might well want to die Richards.  
I know for a fact that Lita doesn't."  
  
"And he might not. Damn it, don't put me in this position!" said  
the old man as he stood up and turned his back on Carrot in  
frustration. "You've got one option, talk her through it. I can't send  
you in, I know that."  
  
"The Daniels family knows who I am," said Carrot as he backed away  
from the desk and leaned against the wall next to the door.  
  
"Yeah, it's part of the deal. They pay us, and they get to keep up  
with our mission files. Little Roy apparently enjoyed reading them  
from what I hear."  
  
"That's too important to have not told us right away," said Carrot  
coolly. "Why ask for me?"  
  
"They know you're our most experienced and most successful agent.  
Getting requests for you isn't that unusual, you know that."  
  
"Yeah, a request like that is usually followed by money exchanging  
hands, and it also goes something like, "I want your best man." I'm  
not that stupid Richards."  
  
"Right," agreed Richards. "They keep more than a passing eye on  
our operations all right?"  
  
"So they knew to ask for me by name," said Carrot with a small  
nod. He frowned and looked thoughtful for a moment.  
  
"Something wrong?" asked Richards as he looked at him for a  
moment.  
  
"This one knows we're coming."  
  
"Most likely."  
  
"She's not going in alone," Carrot turned towards the door and  
turned the knob. "I mean it Richards, this one is waiting for us. He  
had to know mom and dad wouldn't just sit and watch him die. He knows  
we're going in after him."  
  
"Meaning?"  
  
"Either he's waiting patiently in his little fantasy world,  
waiting for us to take him back home to be paddled, or there is  
something nasty waiting for us on the other side."  
  
"So? What are we going to do?" said Richards calmly.  
  
"Get me his parents. I don't care if you half too fly them from  
the other side of the world," said Carrot as he walked out of the  
room.  
  
++++++++++  
  
"Are you implying that my son would..." Robert Daniels stood up  
from his seat and glared angrily at the leather-clad man sitting  
across from him. He was dressed in a business suit and was clutching  
his wife's hand. He was in his early forties, and had slicked back  
black hair. The woman beside him was a rather attractive looking  
blonde in her late thirties, or so it appeared. She was actively  
crying into a white handkerchief, and was dressed in a light pink  
skirt and blazer.  
  
"No Mr. Daniels, I'm not implying that. I'm telling you it was  
deliberate," said Carrot calmly. His voice was smooth and his gaze  
steady and hard.  
  
"How dare you, I'll have your job for this!" snapped the man as he  
lifted up the phone.  
  
"After you asked for me specifically, even knowing that there was  
no way in hell I would make this Dive? Come on now, Bob." Carrot  
leaned in and smiled at the man darkly. "You may fund this project,  
but I'm an original team member. They aren't stupid enough to fire me  
just because I pissed you off by telling you what you needed to hear  
instead of what you wanted to hear. I might also remind you that,  
while your contributions are appreciated, I do not work for you."  
  
"What is it you want?" said Daniels coldly as he sat down.  
  
"I want you to tell me why we need to go in now, exactly. Your son  
is an intelligent boy, from what I gather reading his file. I want to  
know what he's planning, and you're going to help me find out."  
  
"What do you mean?" said Mrs. Daniels in shock.  
  
"I am not willing to risk my partner's life by sending her diving  
head first into your son's head without finding out a little about him  
first, we'll dive in two days. You're going to give me a list of his  
friends and people he speaks with regularly."  
  
"What? Are you insane? You're acting like my son is some sort of  
criminal!" snapped Mr. Daniels angrily as he jumped from his seat once  
again.  
  
"Mr. Daniels...Bob, apparently you don't understand what's going  
on here. Your son knows we're coming for him. I'm not willing to risk  
my partner's life, or my own, on your word that he's waiting patiently  
for us to come pick him up. I'm conducting an investigation. We  
already have practically nothing to go on as it is. So, if you want  
your son's brain back inside his head, I suggest you sit down and  
answer my questions."  
  
+++++++++++  
  
The doctor sat at his desk, reading the file lazily. "Well, how  
interesting."  
  
"Well?" said Carrot calmly.  
  
"As per normal, he doesn't appear to be very sociable. Nothing out  
of the ordinary, he is neither cruel, nor violent in nature. Seems  
perfectly fine."  
  
"So, he might just be sitting there waiting for pickup," said  
Carrot with a small sigh.  
  
"If he remembers who he is at all," agreed the old man with a  
slight smirk.  
  
"But he might not."  
  
"Also a possibility, as always."  
  
"Great," muttered Carrot as he stood up and walked out of the  
room.  
  
+++++++++  
  
"Well?" said Lita as she strolled up to her partner and smiled.  
They were standing in the middle of a long barren hallway.  
  
"You're going in, Davis is going with you," said Carrot calmly as  
he nodded at her. A young man walked into the room with a uniform on  
and smiled at her.  
  
"Hiya, Lita," said the young man calmly. "It's been a while." He was  
around twenty years old, and had short black hair. He also had a black  
headband tied around his forehead.  
  
"Hey, how are you Davis," said Lita as she nodded at him in  
recognition.  
  
"Running an investigation was a smart idea, Carrot," commented  
Jackson as he walked up to the group in the hallway.  
  
"We should have done that from the start," he replied as he  
started walking down the hall.  
  
The group walked into a room through a sliding doorway. It was a  
lab of some kind; various machines lined the walls with technicians  
seated at various workstations. Inside another room, just on the other  
side of a glass wall was two black chairs with equipment around them.  
Another station was present in the corner of that room, with a small  
video screen showing the victim.  
  
Roy Daniels was seated at his computer at home; various black  
suited men were setting up equipment around him as they prepared for  
the transfer. Jackson entered the room and walked up to his  
workstation, sitting down and booting up the equipment he worked with  
as he did.  
  
"Davis, you're running point on this one, Lita is your second,"  
said Carrot calmly.  
  
"What?" said the black woman in shock as she grabbed Carrot by his  
shoulder and pulled him around. "I'm the more experienced here!"  
  
"And I haven't forgotten how you almost got yourself killed last  
time. You're too careless to run point, Lita."  
  
The woman lowered her gaze and cursed under her breath.  
  
Davis nodded, a confident smirk on his face. "What's the mission  
boss?"  
  
"This is a bit more than a standard retrieval, we don't know who  
our dreamer is," continued Carrot calmly. "That means that you've got  
to do a little detective work. You're going to come into contact with  
the residents. Ranma Saotome is the most obvious target, he'll be your  
number one suspect. This one knows we're coming, if he remembers at  
all."  
  
"So it should just be a pickup," said Davis with a rough snort.  
  
"Don't count on that," said Carrot coldly. "Get yourselves  
strapped in, I want you ready for a hostile Dreamer."  
  
"Right," muttered Lita.  
  
Richards entered the room and nodded at Carrot for a moment. The  
man growled slightly and returned the gesture before turning to one of  
the techs.  
  
"Get me hooked up, I'm going to take the outside line with  
Jackson."  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Lita frowned as Davis worked fingers on the side of the chair in  
excitement. He turned to look at her and grinned. She was strapped in  
beside him, with the neural connectors attached to her body and head.  
"Ready for the rush?"  
  
"I hate this part," she muttered.  
  
"Aw, it's just like skydiving without a parachute," said the man  
as he winked at her.  
  
"Connecting," said Jackson. "See you kids when you get back."  
  
"Yeeehaaaawww!" screamed Davis, he was abruptly cut off as his  
body went limp.  
  
Lita merely clutched the sides of her chair tensely and then  
relaxed.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"I take it Davis was your call," said Richards flatly. It wasn't  
really a question.  
  
"He's green, and he talks a lot, but he's also careful," said the  
man in reply. "He's also the only local I could get on this much  
notice. Stanton and Carlson are on dives right now. It'd take two days  
to get them here after they've cleared."  
  
"Carrot, we're hot," said Jackson calmly.  
  
"Right, Lita, what have you got?" said Carrot as he moved over to  
an empty workstation and flicked a switch.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"Tokyo, looks like eighties," said Lita as she glanced around at  
her surroundings.  
  
"We're in a residential area," agreed Davis. He was looking up at  
the gates of the Tendo Dojo. "All the signs are in English though."  
  
"That's normal," said Lita with a small shrug. "You should have  
been there that time Carrot and I dove in and everything was in  
Klingon."  
  
"The Dojo?" asked Carrot.  
  
"Right in front of us," said Lita.  
  
"Check Ranma Saotome, he should be inside. He could be our man,  
and for gods sake, don't go in shooting."  
  
Lita frowned and put her blaster back in its holster.  
  
"This is an investigation, not an invasion, Lita," said Carrot  
calmly with a slight chuckle.  
  
"Man, you know her too well," commented Daniels as he watched the  
scene in wonder.  
  
Lita walked up to the door and knocked, a sour frown on her face.  
"Shut up."  
  
"Hello?" said the young woman who opened the door. Her eyes went  
wide as she saw the two uniformed youths at the door. "Oh my!"  
  
"Hello, is there a Ranma Saotome here?" asked Lita calmly.  
  
"May I ask why?" said the girl nervously. She backed away from  
them slowly.  
  
"We need to ask him a few questions regarding a missing person,"  
said Lita with a small smile.  
  
"Don't worry Ma'am, he's not in any trouble," said Davis with a  
much more natural looking grin.  
  
"He's in the Dojo, please come inside, I'll get him for you," said  
the girl with a slightly reassured look on her face.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"Nice place," commented Davis as he glanced around at the room for  
a moment.  
  
"Yup," agreed Lita with a small frown.  
  
"Keep your weapon holstered Lita, we don't know if it's him or  
not. He's just very likely," said Carrot from her wrist computer.  
  
The woman growled under her breath and took her hand away from her  
side.  
  
Davis chuckled at this and shook his head.  
  
A young girl walked down the stairs and frowned at the two people  
sitting at the table. "Who are you?" She had short black hair, and  
what appeared to be a permanent scowl on her face.  
  
Both of the newcomers looked up at her. "We're here to see Ranma  
Saotome," said Daniels cheerfully.  
  
"Akane Tendo," said Carrot tensely. "North American dub voice."  
  
"Who was that?" said the girl in confusion as she glanced around  
for a moment.  
  
"My partner," said Lita calmly. She stood up and approached the  
girl, looking her up and down for a moment.  
  
"Great, what did that baka do now?" snapped Akane as she glared at  
the shields on their uniforms angrily.  
  
"He's not in any trouble, we're looking for someone," said Lita  
coolly.  
  
"Hey, you wanted to see me?" said Ranma as he walked into the room  
almost casually. "Cops?" He froze and blinked, "What did that old man  
do now?"  
  
"We don't care," said Lita as she turned to face him. "Does the  
name Roy Daniels sound familiar to you?"  
  
"No, should it?" muttered the boy in surprise. He reached up and  
flicked his pigtail for a moment. Lita saw the motion and blinked in  
surprise, Carrot often performed the same motion when he was tense.  
  
"He may be using an alias, has anyone shown up recently? Possibly  
a gajin, or a new martial artist in the area?" said Davis as he  
watched the pair closely.  
  
"Not that we know of," said Akane as she glanced at them and  
folded her arms uncomfortably. "Does that name sound familiar to you  
Carrot?"  
  
Lita looked at the girl in shock. "It's her!" She snapped her arm  
down and pulled the weapon from her side, blasting Akane Tendo dead in  
her chest.  
  
"Akane!" screamed the pigtailed boy. He rushed forward, pushing  
Davis aside easily.  
  
"Shit!" screamed the man as he pulled his blaster from his side.  
  
The young girl was standing with a shocked look on her face, her  
hands on her chest. "What? She missed?" She turned her head and looked  
back at the stairwell. Embedded just behind her in the wall, was a  
glowing green spike of some kind.  
  
The enraged boy threw Lita to the ground, his arms slamming into  
her chest hundreds of times. The blaster was sent skittering across  
the ground as she was thrown onto her back roughly. Ranma screamed  
with rage as he pummeled her.  
  
"Don't move," said a voice from behind him. A low humming sounded  
as something pressed behind the back of his head. "The dart gun might  
not be able to hurt you, but the disrupter will blow your body into  
electrons."  
  
Ranma froze with his arm cocked back and tensed his body.  
  
"Don't, you're fast, but not that fast," said Davis calmly. "If  
you move an inch closer to me girl, I'll blast him."  
  
Akane froze, she had been slowly moving closer to the scene.  
  
"Now you're going to pay attention. My friend here didn't miss  
you. That dart was designed for a certain kind of person. It passed  
right through your body."  
  
"What?" said Akane dumbly.  
  
"Get off her, slowly and if you tense your body so much as a  
little, I'll just blow you off of her."  
  
Lita rolled away, clutching her chest painfully. She crawled over  
and picked up the tagger from the ground. Slowly she staggered to her  
feet and aimed it at the boy. "You then." She fired a single round  
into his chest, and the television screen behind him shattered as the  
green dart slammed into it, leaving the boy unharmed.  
  
"Shit! Are you trying to tag me?" snapped Davis angrily as he  
jumped aside.  
  
Ranma spun around, grabbing the man by his arm and pushing his  
hand against his throat at the same time.  
  
"Carrot!" cried Akane in alarm.  
  
Davis dropped his blaster to the ground and screamed painfully as  
his arm was forcefully overextended.  
  
"What the hell was that?" snapped Ranma angrily.  
  
"It's a tagger," said Carrot's voice over the room. It was dead  
calm, and had a slight wavering in it. "Oh god, this isn't possible."  
  
"Who's there?" snapped Ranma, he glanced around searching for the  
third opponent.  
  
"Lita, drop your weapon and kick it over to him," said Carrot  
calmly.  
  
"What?" snapped the woman angrily as she backed away slowly.  
  
"Do it," snapped Carrot. "They won't hurt you."  
  
"How do you know?" snapped Lita in frustration.  
  
"Trust me damn it!" snapped Carrot. "The Dreamer isn't in the  
room."  
  
The woman tossed the tagger onto the floor at Ranma's feet.  
"There."  
  
"Saotome, let him go, he won't attack," said Carrot calmly.  
  
"That thing on your arm?" muttered Ranma in confusion as he  
relaxed the pressure against Davis's arm.  
  
"That's right, now sit down," said Carrot reassuringly. "We've got  
a lot to talk about."  
  
"Like what?" said Ranma angrily.  
  
"Like why Akane just called you, Carrot?" said the voice calmly.  
  
"I dunno, I just like the name I guess," said Ranma dumbly. "What  
the heck has that got to do with anything?"  
  
"Lita, prepare for retrieval," said Carrot over the intercom.  
  
"What?" said the woman in shock.  
  
The other end of the line was only silence.  
  
+++++++++  
  
"What the fuck are you doing?" said Richards as he walked over to  
Carrot's side as he stood up from his station.  
  
"I'm getting them the hell out of there," said Carrot calmly as he  
walked over and leaned in over one of the technicians. "Pull them out,  
now."  
  
"What?" said Richards in shock.  
  
"I want his parents here in ten minutes. Let's go people," he  
called across the room as he ignored the old man.  
  
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" snapped the old man as  
he grabbed him by his shoulder.  
  
"This was a trap, it was designed for me," said Carrot calmly.  
"This dream is the one I had, I'm almost sure of it. The little  
bastard tried to recreate my trip."  
  
"What?" said Richards in shock as he released him.  
  
"How long?" said Carrot as he walked up to the glass and peered at  
the sleeping forms of his two friends.  
  
The intercom suddenly flared with life. "Get us the fuck out of  
here!" screamed Lita.  
  
"What? What's going on?" said Richards in shock.  
  
"Interference!" cried one of the techs. "Something's messing with  
our signal!"  
  
"That's not possible!" retorted another tech from nearby.  
  
The sound of the blaster being fired was broken apart by static.  
Carrot looked on in horror as the men worked desperately.  
  
"We're losing the signal!"  
  
"Come and get them, I'll make room," said a heavily distorted  
voice on the other end of the line.  
  
"No! Pull them out now!" said Carrot as he rushed over to one of  
the consoles.  
  
Daniels jumped upright on his seat, his eyes wide open as he  
screamed in pain. Blood shot out from his chest in a geyser, soaking  
the cowering Jackson across the room from him.  
  
Carrot's face went hard, the other end of the line was now nothing  
but static. "Take the parents into custody, forcefully if you have  
too."  
  
"What?" said Richards coldly, anger burned on his features as he  
glared at Carrot.  
  
"This is a trap, and something that couldn't have been done on the  
inside alone. There's an outside problem as well. Someone had to take  
control of our operations to cut us off like that. Find out who, and  
where."  
  
"For gods sake, somebody get Jackson out of there before he wets  
the floor," snapped Richards as he turned his head towards the glass.  
"What are you all looking at? Get to work!"  
  
Carrot was already moving towards the glass doors. He grasped the  
handle and clenched his fist, closing his eyes and steeling himself as  
he opened the door and walked over to Lita, and the remains of  
Daniels. There were already several paramedics rushing into the room  
behind him. He ignored them and picked up Lita's hand gently, she  
seemed so peaceful sleeping there. His back was deliberately turned on  
Daniels body, he forced away the sounds of the men working hopelessly  
to bring him back. He gently brushed his partner's face with his hand,  
and turned away. His face became hard in an instant, and a cold fire  
burned in his eyes as he left the room and started walking briskly  
down the hallway.  
  
There would be hell to pay, but first he had a job to do.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  



End file.
